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The Paul Sears I Know University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies Nebraska Academy of Sciences 1985 The Paul Sears I Know Rufus H. Moore Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas Part of the Life Sciences Commons Moore, Rufus H., "The Paul Sears I Know" (1985). Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies. 226. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tnas/226 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Nebraska Academy of Sciences at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societiesy b an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 1985. Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, XIII: 107-110. HISTORY OF SCIENCE THE PAUL SEARS I KNOW Rufus H. Moore 1129 North 38th Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68503 A compact review of the contributions Paul B. Sears made to Since leaving his faculty in 1933 to work on a Ph.D., I science should be part of the record commemorating the 60th anni­ have kept more or less in touch with him. Surely, the sum­ versary of his presidency of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. The marizing of his contributions should be no problem. Not so! recollections presented here refer to the multitude of things he has done, primarily as an ecologist. However, the overriding objective is to On the one hand, Sears was never dormant; and on the other give a glimpse of the exceptional person his associates have come to hand, many other matters competed for my attention. As know. years went by, he kept adding to his thought-filled books and professional papers-which may or may not have come to my t t t attention. Sears's profound regard, almost reverence, for the essen­ It is indeed an honor to give a commentary on Paul tial dignity of the individual has always impressed me deeply. Bigelow Sears in recognition of the 60th anniversary of his As a major professor of graduate students, he had an uncanny presidency of The Nebraska Academy of Sciences. Those who insight into their individual needs. He listened more often than want to know more about his scientific achievements will he directed. find that Love Ubrary, University of Nebraska-Uncoln, has a commendable number of his publications. Reading any of Whenever pOSSible, graduate students chose their own them will eventually provoke the question: What sort of a thesis problems. Jack (Dr. Aaron J.) Sharp, Professor Emeritus human being is this man Sears? Providing a partial answer to of the Botany Department at the University of Tennessee, that question is the primary objective of this thumbnail sketch. concentrated on the bryophytes of southeastern Oklahoma. I followed up my summer's experience at the experiment I first saw Dr. Sears on the Agricultural Campus of the station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, where Sears, Fred Bukey, and University of Nebraska in the spring of 1927. He was on his I began trying to find out what attracts the moth of the way to the Plant Industry Building to teach the beginning European cornborer to its principal host (my master's thesis course in plant physiology. Dr. Harvey Werner of Horticulture, dealt with cell specialization in the epidermis of maize). my advisor at that time, had just told me that this botanist Phyllis Draper, who affectionately referred to Sears as "Uncle was looking for graduate students. He urged me to become one Paul," let him pick her problem. She did the first paper of them. Never having had a course under Dr. Sears, I had to in the United States on the study of fossil poll~ in bog sedi­ rely on recommendations; and a faculty opinion, impressive ments. as it was, left an uncomfortable hiatus in my immature mind. I wanted to know how students reacted to this man. A close The Oklahoma experience was a saga for us graduate stu­ friend of mine, Marx Koehnke, who had taken his course in dents. In response to a letter I wrote him, Sharp (1984, per­ plant physiology, agreed enthusiastically with Werner that sonal communication) expressed it this way: "I remember the Sears was tops. So in the fall I became a Sooner with Sears weekly social get-to-gethers at the Sears' home the first year when he went to the University of Oklahoma as Professor and when we all were getting acquainted-his and our first year at Head of Botany. O.U. They were great." 107 108 R. H. Moore Sometimes these weekly events were dinners with all the in 1630 on the third voyage of the Mayflower. He was the first trimmings. At one of them, Sears sparked interest by making American in the genetic line to which our Paul Sears belongs. special place cards without names. Each card was inscribed [Paul neglected to mention this geneological bit to us in Okla­ with a conundrum of sorts, set off by mini-sketches. Mine homa: I found it very recently in the National Cyclopedia read, "His skin is full of corn, but he's a sober lad" (referring of American Biography (Anonymous, 1964).] Paul Bigelow to my research on the epidermis of maize). Sears was born in a modest home in Bucyrus, Ohio, 17 De­ cember 1891. He spent most of his growing years in a large, A field-trip enthusiast himself, Sears took us to many eye-catching residence of native red brick, designed by his interesting natural settings from the Wichita Mountains on the grandfather in 1860. This impressive structure, with its corner west to the Ouachita Mountains on the east. Included were tower extending through three stories, has recently been sites in between, especially the Arbuckle Mountains. placed on the National Register for Historic Sites. One of his master's students, Helen Vincent, took her Paul Sears married Marjorie Lee McCutcheon on 22 June studies a bit too seriously. Her oral examination had been a 1917. They reared three children: Paul McCutcheon, Catherine nightmare for her. To convey his understanding of her inner Louise (Frazer), and Sally Harris. Presently, the family in­ turmoil, at the end of the grilling Sears handed her one of his cludes four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and Mrs. impulsive sketches made during her ordeal. Looking at her Marguerite Saxer, who recently became Mrs. Paul Bigelow from the paper was a dog with pleading eyes and with a tin Sears, following Marjorie's death after 65 years of beautiful can tied to his tail. companionship. Nebraska Poet-Laureate John G. Neihardt once gave a Sears has a B.S. in zoology (1913) and a B.A. in econom­ talk on the University of Nebraska-lincoln campus in which ics (1914) from Ohio Wesleyan University and an A.M. in he reduced all art to a format of dimensions. Looking at art botany from the University of Nebraska (1915). His instruc­ this way, writing has one dimension, painting and sketching torship in botany at Ohio State University was interrupted by two, sculpture three, and music no dimensions at all. Whether military service. In 1918 he became a private in the army, rose he realizes it or not, Sears has tried his hand at all four. Of to battalion sergeant major in the infantry, and finished in the course, he is best known for his contributions to the art of one air force at Dorr Field, Florida. dimension, writing. But, his flair for the art of two dimensions, sketching and painting, is a second nature to him. See, for He was Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor example, his many pen sketches in This Is Our World (1937). of Botany at the University of Nebraska (1919-1927) when When I bought a copy of this book, he whipped off a sketch Dr. Charles Bessey was chairman. During his assistant profes­ with a small, wispy brush, producing a truly distinctive auto­ sorship, he continued his research on the dandelion and wrote graph which I proudly pasted on the front flyleaf of my copy. his doctoral thesis, "Variations in Cytology and Gross Mor­ He also did extensive sketching for his book, Who Are These phology of Taraxacum." The University of Chicago granted Americans? (1939). Occasionally, he sends special greetings to his Ph.D. degree in 1922. friends on small cards with the other side done in color. Sears was Professor and Head of the Botany Department Some years ago he was absorbed in an art of three dimen­ at the University of Oklahoma (1927-1938) and Oberlin Col­ sions, making wood blocks, which he chiseled from apple lege (1938-1950); Chairman of the Conservation Program wood and printed on a press of his own design. (1950-1960) and Chairman of Plant Science (1953-1955) at Yale University and Professor Emeritus since 1960. During His love for the art of no dimensions, music, must not be these years, he contributed to botanical journals and maga­ overlooked. He had learned to play the violin. But while at zines and lectured on ecology at other institutions. the University of Oklahoma, he played the viola in the univer­ sity's symphony orchestra (there were plenty of violinists, but He wrote eight books and revised three of them. Also, the director needed a violist). In recent years, when he visited he collaborated with others to write two additional books. my home in lincoln, he always brought along his violin be­ The complete list includes: Deserts on the March (1935), cause he knew that my wife, Martha, skilled at sight reading which merited the 1937 Book of the Month Fellowship Prize music, could accompany him at the piano.
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